Tiger returned from her trip with a new sense of determination. She immediately demanded that we get back to work. The pace she enforced was something I did not expect from a bureaucratic soldier. It was as if she needed to keep moving, otherwise, she could not breathe.

"Tiger," I pleaded, "I still have a massive migraine from finishing the walls. Can't I have a day off?"

"Do you think I am dumb 471?"

Every time she used that name, I knew she was about to make me do something I would not want to.

"I saw you and Marco napping when I came in last night. From the looks of it, you two got more than enough rest."

What had she seen? My face grew red, and I knew nothing I could say would help me now.

"Don't get tangled with me now. All I care about is results, and you and Marco have been delivering those to me.”

Tiger paused as she appeared to look down her nose at me. I couldn’t tell due to the black inquisitor’s mask she had yet to remove.

“Tiger, why do you refuse to remove that mask?” I asked.

“What? Why would I need to remove it?” Tiger said.

“Because I bet you are pretty underneath that thing. Why don’t you take it off? I could do your makeup for you! I have been practicing lately can you tell?”

Tiger gave me an exacerbated sigh as she ran her hand down her face. Well, at least I thought I was looking cuter and cuter by the day.

“Let’s get back to the task at hand. We need more and stronger troops if we are to stand a chance against the dwarves."

"Mouse said you were getting adventurers to fill the gap?" I replied.

"Hmph, adventurers..." she gave me an eye roll as if I were an idiot. "Dear, adventurers won't do anything to help us. Even if they would, the adventurers' guild has no interference policy for war. At most, they will all be cluttered in the woods of those dwarves."

"So, why even send for their help if they won't help kill the dwarves?"

"Oh, I would not go that far," she mused to me. "I have learned in my brief life that if you put two stupid hard-headed men in the same room, they are likely to fight. Now think if you add a few hundred more into the mix and add a dash of pride. Think of what will happen! If we are lucky, the adventurer’s guild might even blacklist their village. Uhhh…” Tiger let out a sign of exhilaration at that thought before continuing, “But my plan does not need that result."

"Why am I here then, Tiger?" I questioned.

"Simple, to kill more orc champions. Our hosts have a legend about a demon who will go around and unite all the monster races under one banner. I want you to go around and start that process for me."

"Why not Marco? He has already killed one orc champion."

"Marco's powers are too inconsistent for me to be sure he would win every time. Yours can manufacture an undying and relentless creature that fights without stopping."

"So, can I do this after I do your makeup,” I asked with as much sincerity as I could muster.

“Devin, if you say that again you and I will have more than just words.”

Tiger turned and strutted away from me. It saddened me a bit. I only ever had boys as friends growing up, and even those were few and far between. Even though Tiger and I were not close I wanted us to be. If only to have someone to help me with everything that went along with, well this…

I looked over what I had left for golems after consuming three of them to recreate the wall. But Marco and I had theorized that I could pull the souls back out of my body. Well, I did most of the theorizing Marco was more of a passive ear to bounce my ideas off of.

"Marco," I called over to him, where he was enjoying a large slice of meat.

"What's up?" Marco replied.

"Did Tiger give you another assignment too?"

"Yeah, she said something about going with the orcs to collect some nomes. You?"

"About the same. You stay safe out there," I told him.

"Right back at you. I can't wait until this job ends. Tiger is ruthless, but the strength I have gained here is crazy."

"You could say that. I am not sure what is waiting for us, though. I don't expect us to have a grand reunion if we went back to the demonic affinity fort. We really did leave on bad terms."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I know, but a life of constant work is not for me." Marco's voice turned into a whisper. "I want to break away from Tiger once this is over. If you want, you can come with me."

“Where would we even go?”

“I don’t know, does it even matter? We could travel the world or even hop over the mountain range and see what awaits on the other side. I don’t think being an expendable weapon is something that will give us full lives. Don’t get me wrong I love the fighting and my strength growing, but we could do that anywhere and without supervision!” Marco said.

I could not help but think to myself that life with Marco could be a lot of fun. Even more so a life of adventure and a new journey around every corner. That is what I had wanted after all with my life and now he was offering it to me. All we had to do was finish this mission for Tiger and disappear before she realized we were gone.

“I am in!” I said with a newfound determination.

“Seriously? You are the best Devin!”

With him saying that I leaned in and closed my eyes. To my dismay what I got in return was a quick squeeze and a pat on the back.

“See you real soon!” Marco said as he started on his mission.

It took me a moment, but I headed out for what Tiger had planned. I strolled out of the main entrance of the outpost with my usual two escorts. Unlike the other orcs, both Vamp and Liz seemed like in a normal tribe they could have challenged an orc champion. Both were twice my size on the lower end of my estimation. It made me wonder if they had been close with the champion and if that was why they had stuck around. I imagine that their version of "close" was more like a human's version of respect.

"I am looking for a hard rock or metal," I said to Liz while pointing at my ritual knife and a piece of quartz I had leftover in my pockets.

Liz turned and looked at Vamp, then gave me an affirmative nod. Then they started leading me in a direction that we had not gone before. Where we usually headed northwest toward the dwarves. They lead straight west where the trees were more heavily populated.

I took the time to examine the life that seemed to be teeming in the forest as we walked through. Where most of the terrain by the outpost was dominated by prairie grass with a few trees patched between. The forest was a whole other story. It was a dense variety of different vegetation with bright blues and yellows dotted in the greenery. The smell of the forest was also much nicer than the other areas I had been to. The sweet smell of sap seemed to be emanating off of the pine trees in the area.

It took a few hours on foot to get to where the orcs had agreed. They brought me to a beautiful cave entrance. The cave had large quartz stalactites engulfing the top. I could hear the small dripping of water as the stalactites dropped into the pool below. The water surface that made up most of the cave floor rippled with silent tranquility. The cave had more quartz than I had seen anywhere else in my life. If I had the time to check there would no doubt be quartz even in the walls of the gray stone of the walls.

“This will do,” I said, “This will do!”

Tiger had instructed me to build something that could defeat the other orc champions in the area. To challenge other orc champions my creation would need to be human-shaped. This made me a little uneasy. All my attempts before had shown me that humanoid golem was clumsy and slow at best. That would not do in combat versus an opponent like an orc champion. The golem had to contain the power to deliver decisive blows. Would giving the golem three souls and a body made of quartz be enough? There was only one way to find out.

I took careful time shaping the golem into a humanoid form. Doing my best to imagine individual muscles and their uses. Muscles that would not contain flesh and blood, but quartz and inheritance of the essence of my affinity. Was that it? My visions of the most powerful undeath rituals always contained so much blood. With my rituals, I had always used the minimum amount of blood since I really did not like bleeding. After all, I did not want to become a monster like the ones I had dreams of. Though, to think of it I realized that I was already a monster. When had I lost sight of my humanity? I had gone from a naive young boy into what exactly?

“Sacrifice,” I called out to Liz and Vamp.

A presence from within me seemed to take over my body. My body moved while my mind could only watch. It was like I was experiencing sleep paralysis. No matter how much I shook, no part of my body responded. I raised my hand, and an altar formed in front of my eyes. Then the slow methodical process of creating the golem began in earnest. It was like every technique I had learned was being used and even some I hadn’t seen before.

With no small amount of detail overlooked, two halves of a golem lay before me. The center was void, waiting for its contents so it could seal. Liz and Vamp returned after a long wait, not with animals or monsters. No, they had captured an elven girl. She looked younger than even me, but her attire told me she was an adventurer. One foolish enough to take on the Tiger’s little game. I had the orcs hold her each by one leg as they hoisted her above the altar.

My body jerked once again on its own and my ritual knife landed in her throat. I could see the fear and life drain out of her eyes. Tears began to form at the edges of my face as my body continued about the ritual. The ritual knife then got turned on me. My hands motioned the knife across my wrist and blood began to drip down my hand. I watched as the woman’s soul and the three additional in my body mixed within the voided space in the golem. Before closing it off, completely sealing the golem.

When the golem rose in front of me, I realized I was back in control of my body. When exactly had it reverted? I didn’t know or want to know the answer. Either way, that ritual sealed my fate. I could no longer pretend I was a good person. I was a weapon for killing and nothing more. Would Marco still want to be with me if he had seen what I had become? To think of it he might not be any better than me. He always seemed to relish in the death of others and his ability to grow stronger with their deaths. But, he was also the only companion I have left in this world. Tiger refused to help fill that role so Marco was the only one I could be with to feel seen.

In the way, I was nothing but a weapon for Tiger to use, the creature before I was my weapon to be used and discarded if needed. The golem's sharp lines and pointed features made it seem all the deadlier. It was also translucent, allowing the blood within its container to be visible. The soft sloshing of blood came from within the golem as it removed itself from the altar.

I could not help but think something was missing. Of course, the golem also needed a weapon. My wrist was still bleeding from the ritual. I moved over the altar so that I dripped blood on the top of it. After enough blood had leached out to form a small pool, I reached into it and shaped out a sword from the bloody quartz. The sword was stained red in the color of my blood.

I felt faint with the loss of blood finally catching up to me. As I stumbled backward Vamp caught me. Then quickly following behind Liz placed a piece of wood into my mouth. Before I could resist his hands were already on my wrists. The glowing of the setting sun shined into the cave directed at Liz’s hands. The sunlight seemed to go straight to this orc as the sensation of burning hit me. I let out a muffled scream as the orc cauterized my wounds.